"Writing is a skill, not a talent, and thus one's ability as a writer can be improved by thoughtful effort. The problem with some people is that they graduate college as good writers, experience early success on account of that, and thus never devote themselves diligently to the relentless quest for improvement that could make them great writers."

Why does Jessica Valenti derogate virginity? An excerpt from her book explains it all:

I was once that teenage girl struggling with the meaning behind my sexuality . . . I was the cruelly labeled slut . . .

Which is to say, It's about her. Remember my rant about Bill Maher, who seems stuck in a phase of eighth-grade rebellion? Jessica Valenti is his distaff analog.

Valenti's mislabeled "pro-sex feminism," like Maher's childish atheism, is merely an unresolved adolescent emotional issue carried forward into adulthood by immature personalities. Unable to accept and adjust to their own failures to live up to traditional ideals, they manufacture their own counter-ideals, which naturally compel them to scoff and sneer at tradition.

Yet, as Cassy Fiano points out, the consequences of anti-traditionalism are disastrous: Despite all the prophylactic propaganda, diseases like herpes, chlamydia and HPV are pandemic, and despite the easy availability of contraception, we have more than a million abortions a year in the United States, in addition to a record level of bastardy.

Given the self-evident wrongness of Valenti's whorism -- we cannot call it "feminism," since it has nothing to do with equality of political or economic rights -- why would anyone endorse it? Why would the producers of NBC's "Today" show give publicity to an author advocating moral nihilism and (at least tacitly) endorsing teen promsicuity?

Valenti's book carries the absurdly misguided subtitle, "How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women." Is it not rather the case that an obsession with sex is the source of the problem? Were it not for the sexualization of popular culture, virginity -- the default condition of youth, whose abandonment requires willful action -- would be taken for granted. It is only because fornication has become a high-school ritual (the median age of first intercourse is 16 or 17, according to various studies) that it is now "conservative" to think that teenagers can or should be chaste.

So we see that NBC has a political excuse to promote Valenti's whorism. By making adolescent fornication a political issue, liberals can now demand that "both sides of the issue" get a hearing. And yet this is not enough for them. Cassy Fiano points out that Valenti's readers are complaining that abstinence advocate Lakita Garth got equal time on the "Today" show. Just as with the same-sex marriage controversy -- where opposition to the gay-radical agenda has become stigmatized as "hate" -- soon it will be considered a species of bigotry merely to disagree with Valenti.

Valenti's perverse ideology makes sense only if you ignore everything we know about human nature. Liberals erupted in outrage at my assertion that selling Plan B over the counter to 17-year-olds would serve only to make teenage girls more vulnerable to male predation. But who has more insight into the habits and attitudes of the typical 17-year-old boy? Me or Andrew Sullivan? (Who, by his own admission, was never typical.)

Common-sense observations about human nature are now politicized as "conservative," so that every knocked-up 15-year-old can be said to be engaged in liberal activism and her baby-daddy is a "community organizer" of sorts. One imagines that nowadays the high-school Lothario, encountering resistance as he tries to get to second base with his would-be conquest, chides his prey: "What are you? Some kind of Republican?"

Let’s face it, if Valenti’s ideology is embraced by liberals, this will certainly make matters simple for horny teenage boys looking for an easy score. How can you tell which girls put out? They’re the ones whose moms have Obama stickers on their minivan bumpers.

Back in the late Sixties, some distaff radical declared, "Feminism is the theory. Lesbianism is the practice," which is at least teleologically coherent. . . . Valenti can be said to postulate a corollary to the original syllogism: "Feminism is the theory. Whorism is the practice."

Dishonest writers like Valenti seek mainstream acceptance of their ideology by expressing it in mild language that won't offend the soccer moms. The critic who distills their argument to its radical essence -- as is my wont -- will naturally be denounced as an extremist. Which I suppose is true in the sense that it takes one to know one. But one cannot be moderate in the discussion of virtue, which allows no compromise.

One is virtuous or one is not, and while I have never claimed to be a paragon of virtue, I can at least distinguish between virtue and vice. And must, lest I incur the ancient curse:

UPDATE II: Over at Right Wing News, I illustrate a quote with this neoclassical artwork:

Of course, Phryne was the 4th-century Greek prostitute whose acquittal by the Aeropagus might be construed as evidence of the decadence of paganism in the Hellenistic age. In our own decadent age, we have seen the divine grace of Jesus toward the woman caught in adultery perverted into an imbecile non-judgmentalism, forgetting entirely Christ's parting commandment to the woman who owed him her life:

Christ offered mercy to sinners, but never pretended that sin was not sin, as do today's acolytes in the temple of non-judgmentalism.

UPDATE III: Over at my friend Russ Smith's Splice Today, Zach Kaufmann numbers me among the "fascist womanizing prigs." This is rather an oxymoronic appellation. Can a womanizer also be a prig? Does my long marriage not at least exempt me from the accusation of womanizing? Since I am self-evidently not priggish -- frank discussion of sexuality does not shock me in the least -- what exactly does Kauffman intend to denote? And how does fascism figure into this, except as a simple-minded slur?

Really, Russ: We're in a buyer's market for content providers. Can you not afford better help than these impudent young liberal idiots? And as for Kaufmann's title -- "Hey, Robert, Is Your Daughter Single?" -- the answer is: Single, lovely, redheaded, 19, and so far out of your league it ain't even the same game, punk.

UPDATE IV: Note how Pandagon accuses Mark Regnerus of attempting to relegate women to "chattel" status, merely for advocating marriage. (Via Memeorandum.) The Left well knows that its perverse "Progress" requires the annihilation of all traditions, even the tradition of young love. I'll have more to say about Regnerus later, but now must attempt some actual paying work.

This post, and Smitty's post immediately previous, both highlight the fundamental fount of liberal ideology -- petulance. A typical liberal is an emotionally stunted adult... a child in a grown-up's body, rejecting all previous authority in a knee-jerk fashion and making up the "reasons" why as they go along.

Isn't it astonishing that Obama was carried into office on a wave of naked petulance and child-like narcissism from his supporters, and yet nobody names it for what it is?

After reading your post I went back and watched the video. I was surprised at the civility of all participants on a very sensitive topic. The conclusion I came away with was that there was acknowledgement by all players that while the extreme is desireable, the reality is somewhere in between. Both authors agreed about the hypersexualization of our society and both agreed about what would be the better choice for young women with regard to both physical and mental well-being.

Bottom line is that loss of virginity is not necessarily the end of life as we know it. We shouldn't live in a one sin world.

I never used the line about "are you some kind of Republican," either.

"Whorism?!" Seriously? I can't imagine why conservatives have trouble with women voters these daysDemocrats are clearly attempting to monopolize the slut vote, and I merely suggest that conservatives should offer A Choice, Not an Echo to Valenti's whorism.

Central to the whore culture is abortion and you know what, it isn't necessarily the patients who are the whores. Apparently Planned Parenthood clinics are perfectly happy to help cover up statutory rape. Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlmbcbqrK5Y

http://liveaction.org/newsroom/

Is there anyone other than parents and churches trying to teach young girls that no, they shouldn't be sluts. Anyone?

I really enjoyed the quote about slutty daughters of parents with Obama stickers on their minivans. Who knew Sarah Palin had voted for Obama?

And contraception is not "easily available" considering all the work conservatives do to make it difficult to get, and your opposition to schools even teaching teenagers about its existence, this is a dubious assertion.

And contraception is not "easily available" considering all the work conservatives do to make it difficult to get,Yes, last time I was in CVS I noticed that the condoms were under heavy lock and key. I've been told that you are only allowed access to this magic locker if you know the password. But even that's not enough, because then you must slay the fire breathing dragon that guards all of the contraceptive devices. And even if you slay the dragon, an immortal Knight offers you to choose between three boxes, only one of which contains the true contraceptive device. I don't even want to get into what "choosing poorly" entails in this scenario.

and your opposition to schools even teaching teenagers about its existence, this is a dubious assertion.I recognize that I broke up your comment in midstream, but what's the dubious assertion? You're missing a participle or a noun or something there.

AJBs entire post is a logical fallacy. From straw men to cherry picking to ad hominen, it's just one great big disaster of rhetorical logic. And all in a meager two sentences. Nice job!

I do so enjoy the brave souls who can't even put in a madeup name to identify themselves, lacking even that rudimentary level of self-confidence. In true Alinsky fashion, "Anonymous" has managed to turn this issue into an attack on Palin - "pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." You're doing a bang-up job of adhering in all things to the Soros-funded talking points. I'm sure the DNC check is in the mail.

But, you're right, contraception is so very, very hard to get. Why, most elementary school students can't even purchase a condom these days! Why not just surgically implant steroid pumps into little girls to insure they don't get punished with a baby? Later on, after they've completed their government mandated Masters in Feminist Liberation Theology, they can petition the State to be allowed to enter the lottery which may enable you to, at some point and with more government approval, to be put on a list to be one of the very few allowed to procreate. What, with the need to reduce the human population by 90% and all, it's the only just and equal system. Won't that be a wonderful day?

Jessica Durante's shtick is really an anxious, sideways boast that she is desired sexually by someone - because she's tier C or D trim on a good day. She had to be the girl who didn't give you girlfriend-level shit, because you wouldn't put up with it, not like with the pretty, respectable girls. No one went to Jessica Durante's house to have a nervous dinner with stern papa Durante. Then, one supposes, she got a "reputation" and may have been passed around a bit.

I say this, however, I'm inclined to believe that the more one writes or talks about sex, the less sex one has or has had. If you had a crystal ball, I'd bet that Jessica Durante's level of sluttiness isn't quite what you'd expect. This is to say that with all her feminist hang-ups, her "look at me" sluttiness is more an attempt to tick off her political opponents cum alternative parents, who like totally won't let her hang at the mall with her friends.

Hit the tip jar, you ungrateful bastards!

Understand Liberalism

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